How to get customers to find you instead of chasing them
Photo by Blake Wisz on Unsplash
Do you feel like you’re chasing after customers and getting nowhere? You’re not alone. According to a 2023 Marketing Charts survey, roughly 70% of businesses with fewer than 10 employees struggle to attract new customers. Not a good look, because let’s face it, customers are the lifeblood of any business.
The good news? You don’t have to be in chase mode forever. If you have a good business and you’re willing to implement some practical strategies, customers will start looking for you.
So, what do you need to do to turn your business into a magnet and not a chase? Read on to find out.
1. Create an unforgettable brand
One of the first steps in getting customers to come to you is turning your business into a brand they’ll never forget. This goes way beyond your logo, tagline, and colors. It’s about the sentiments you evoke in the customer and what they picture when they think about your business.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- What problems is your business solving better than your competitors?
- How do you want people to describe your business to their friends and family members?
- Why exactly should someone do business with you and not another similar brand?
When your business can answer these questions satisfactorily, you no longer have to shout for attention.
Take a look at Apple. Its marketing budget is massive, but what stands out is how the company has carved an identity for itself. This identity is why it topped the list of most admired companies in the world for the 18th year in a row.
2. Optimize your customer experience
It’s not enough to have an unforgettable brand; does it translate into happy customers who keep coming back again and again? While it can be tempting to focus all your energy on attracting customers, the truth is that if they’re not getting the best experience, you’ll lose them in a hurry.
Here’s the thing about customer experience: no matter how much people love your business or your products and services, let them have several bad experiences, and 59% will walk away, never looking back. In fact, 17% will walk away after just one bad experience. Sadly, you may never have another opportunity to correct the impression.
So, whether it’s something as advanced as making your website as user-friendly as possible or providing personalized recommendations, or as simple as offering a discount or freebie, the goal is to create an experience that’ll convince people to come back.
3. Be everywhere your customers are
Getting customers to come to you means showcasing your business where they are, and these days, that means online. This is where search everywhere optimization comes in.
Search everywhere optimization is all about making your business visible across the platforms your customers actually use to look for information. No, you don’t have to be on every platform, just the right ones. A few years ago, it was Google.
But now, according to the Connection Model, you must go beyond traditional SEO and be discoverable everywhere modern consumers search for information: TikTok, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, YouTube, and even AI-powered search and chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.
So, ask yourself: where does my target audience go for answers, solutions, or inspiration? That’s where you should show up.
The secret is to work with a reliable search optimization company to help make sure you are visible in the places that matter most.
4. Establish exclusivity
Not everyone should be your customer. When you try to appeal to everyone, you run the risk of blurring your identity. When you establish exclusivity, however, you make your brand desirable.
Exclusivity doesn’t mean turning people away, though. It means offering something that’s tailored, limited, or hard to get, just like with Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci, Rolex, the Four Seasons, and even Porsche.
Here’s how you can build exclusivity around your brand:
- Offer limited or seasonal products
- Create a membership or subscription system with real benefits
- Share behind-the-scenes access with members only
The goal is not to make your products expensive, but to ensure that not everyone has access.
5. Show social proof
No matter how much you brag about your business, the truth is that very few will believe you, as much as they’ll believe other customers. That’s where social proof comes in to work in your favor.
Social proof is simply the idea that buyers trust what real people say about a brand more than what the brand says about itself. And guess what? There are statistics to back this up. For example, Gartner reports that up to 90% of buyers are influenced by social proof when making a purchase.
So, how do you use this to attract customers? Simple. Anytime someone vouches for your brand, product, or service, make sure to share it on all your online platforms. New customers trust reviews like these, and by the time they arrive at your business, they’re already halfway sold.
Hopefully, this article has given you a fresh perspective on customer acquisition and shown you how to flip the script so that instead of chasing customers, they come looking for you. When you put these strategies into play, you’ll realize that you don’t have to run after every lead. The right customers will find their way to your door.